The Engineer

The Life and Times of Donald F. Simmons

Ad Astra

April 6th, 2006

Everyone else has beaten me to this by a couple of days, but here's my views.

Thought Ad Astra went really well this year. The science panels rocked (good job Yvonne), Peter David was a great guest and I spent Saturday morning and afternoon following him around, had coffee and croissants in the con suite about six times, Nash the Slash's soundtrack to the original silent Lost World on Friday night was a thing of beauty, and the room parties were fun. There was a good turnout for the Masquerade, and they were saying attendance was up 24% over last year. Looks like Ad Astra is making a deserved comeback.

The only problems I had were with the hotel itself. The Crowne Plaza is very oddly laid out with steps everywhere, and I know people in wheelchairs and scooters were having a devil of a time getting to any function room. The restaurant was also on the expensive side, and lacked the usual buffets for dinner (or had them on very limited times). I will say that the beds were the most comfortable I've ever slept in in a hotel. I've never woken up in a hotel and spent the first minute thinking I was at home.